Urgent advice needed.

Until yesterday he was constipated for 5 days (he normally goes one or twice a day). He then did a poo but was screaming and his whole body was shaking when he did it and the poo got stuck. I literally had to get a wet wipe and pull it out of his bum (sorry!!)

Since Sunday he's refused to eat anything other than baby crisps, but now he won't even eat that. I went to the pharmacy yesterday and they said to give him lactulose but he won't open his mouth to swallow it. He won't have calpol either.

I don't even know if it's still constipation or something else? His temperature is fine and no rashes anywhere. Can I mix the lactulose or calpol in water and see if he drinks it? I'm not really sure what to do. Think if he doesn't improve I might try an out of hours doctor tonight.

Comments (43)

Sounds exactly like when my older daughter gets constipated (she has a bowel condition). When she was a baby she was so bad she ended up in hospital with ketones in her urine because she was refusing to eat or drink. We were told to mix her medication with water and to keep giving it to her using a calpol syringe x

He may have a small tear in his bottom. My eldest did this. He was constipated then a huge poop that I had to pull out. Took him to the doctor and she saw a small tear. Lactulose, loads of water, pears and prunes. I got the pear purée from Ella’s kitchen and chilled them. Keep offering water and anything you can. Poor mite. Warm baths, tummy rubs and lots of Sudo Crème in his bottom.

Have you tried a tummy massage to help him go? Not sure if this will help at all but my friends lo was the same and she would do nappy free time and loads of tummy massages etc and sometimes it would work. Hope he feels better sooon!!! Xx

Daisy was like this and her poo had become compacted so it was like trying to fit a golf ball out a tiny bottom. She would also be bleeding as she was going, screaming the whole time. In the end I used some cotton buds covered in Vaseline to try breaking it up and getting it out. The nurse who then gave me lactulose said I shouldn't have done that but nothing else was working and there was no way it was going to fit!
I fed her lots of soft prunes and apricots, pear puree and peach puree. Lots of fibre too. Be careful with Calpol apparently this can add to the constipation.

Anyway I did the whole cotton bud thing a good few times before the lactose kicked in and softened things up. Very rarely have to give her it now as I've made changes to her diet. I really hope he manages to go comfortably it's horrible seeing them in pain.

Martha used to suffer from terrible constipation. The lactulose really helped once we got her to take it. Bicycle legs, reflexology, tummy massage and tiger in the tree yoga pose all helped. The last one was especially useful when she was in discomfort. A warm bath often helped her relax which helped things move along too. The reflexology and yoga have YouTube tutorials.

A brief word of warning about the lactulose. Sometimes when it works - it really works. We had one nappy change from hell where poop just kept coming like a weird volcanic eruption. Luckily we were at home. I did have to grab one of her Papa’s shirts to use as a changing mat. I always change nappies on my knee and was trying to manage with wipes. 😂

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Your growing child

18 month old

You may observe a spurt in physical development this month. Your toddler is surer on his feet, loves to climb and might even join you or his dad in a game of football or other physical play if he concentrates hard enough. Read More

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